Qualcomm wants to run LTE on your 5GHz Wi-Fi band

Qualcomm is expected to introduce at the Mobile World Congress this week a new chipset that will enable LTE to run in the 5GHz WiFi band. LTE for unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) will be integrated into Qualcomm's latest small cell solutions and RF transceivers for mobile devices.

"As the Internet enters a new phase of growth, in which more devices are connected and share richer data, there is a need to cost effectively address the challenges of a 1000x increase in mobile data traffic," Qualcomm executive veep Matt Grob said in a statement. "To do this, we need a combination of more spectrum, more efficient use of existing spectrum, and more small cells."

"Adding LTE-U technology to our small cell solutions will provide additional capacity for operators to augment existing mobile broadband and deliver seamless connectivity experiences," Neville Meijers, vice president of business development at Qualcomm, said in a statement.

The 5GHz band is already used by Wi-Fi connectivity technologies, including 802.11n and 802.11ac. In order to ensure that LTE-U signals won't interfere with Wi-Fi networks, Qualcomm says it has built in a number of protection features into its chipset.

The company has successfully completed over-the-air testing to prove co-existence between multiple LTE-U and Wi-Fi access points in the unlicensed spectrum under extreme load conditions.